AN UNPRECEDENTED HISTORY OF MILITARY AIRCRAFT BIRD STRIKES IN ROMANIA

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Öz

This
paper tackles a never-before-approached topic in Romania, as it aims to
empirically analyse the 26 cases of collision between military aircrafts and
birds that occurred between 1967 and 1991. The work is based exclusively on
observations made by the Head of the Meteorological
Department of the Romanian Military Aviation Commandment between 1990 and
1993, commander (retired) and meteorologist. This paper complements various
scientific and statistical studies in the field, which lacked information about
military aircraft bird strikes in Romania. In addition to these 26 collisions,
3 other incidents involving military aircrafts may have been bird-related. They
occurred in 2002 (2, one of which was a catastrophe that lead to the pilot’s
death) and 2007 (1 incident). The study objectives were to analysethe collisions’ locations (prevalence of certain aerodromes),
the atmospheric and seasonal conditions in which the collisions occurred, and
the types of aircrafts and bird species involved in the incidents, which
resulted in a map of the analyses’ main elements. In terms of results and
conclusions, it was found that in Romania, in the analysed period, most of the
collisions occurred in areas where aerodromes were located in the vicinity of
water sources, in autumn, followed by spring, which is linked to the birds’
migration activity, as well as to agricultural practices, as birds relocate in
order to look for food sources. Most collisions occurred during the day, under
normal meteorological conditions, up to altitudes of 400-500 m. It was also
noticed that in over 50% of cases collisions occurred in the vicinity of
aerodromes, most often during landing. The most important element that favours
bird presence near aerodromes is food and water source availability, which is
followed by the availability of various nesting-suitable locations. This study
also touches on flight ornithological insurance, factors that stimulate bird
concentration near aerodromes, recommendations for ensuring flight safety from
an ornithological perspective, as well as methods used to hinder bird presence
near aerodromes